What is Solution Selling?

In solution selling, the seller learns about their customers’ wants instead of just selling products, which is the traditional way of selling. Because of this, they make sure that the things they sell meet those needs. Solution sellers make unique plans that help their clients expand and do well in the long run.

Solution selling was first used in 1975 by Frank Watts, a worker at Wang Laboratories. It spread through the business world in the early and mid-1980s. It takes the place of the standard “box pushing” method of sales, which focuses on offering the same product features to all prospects in the same way, no matter their situation.

Synonyms

• Solutions-based selling
• Needs-focused sales
• Consultative selling
• Needs analysis

Why solution selling is important

People who work in sales often say it’s all about “rapport,” which means making small talk to get a customer to trust you. Customers can see right through the “How are things going with the family?” talk sessions. Going right to the sales pitch without finding out what the customer wants will make them unhappy in the long run.

When salespeople sell solutions, they do the opposite. They answer questions like these during sales talks:

• What are the business goals of the prospect?
• Why do they keep failing to meet them?
• What significant events are coming up for them, like a merger or the release of a new product?
• What can they do better to ease their pain?
• What result would help them solve these issues or solve them on their own?

Solution sellers get along well with their clients when they are informed and valuable. They get to know customers because they want to give them the best product or service for their needs, not just the one that will give them a one-time commission.

How and When to Use Solution Selling

In an ideal world, sellers would focus on the customer with every possible buyer. But solution selling isn’t the only way to put the customer first. In addition, it takes a lot of time.

This method is mainly used in two situations:

1. When a customer wants a unique or highly complex answer

2. In situations where the customer needs a lot of help

Service-based industries like digital marketing, professional services (like accounting, financial advice, and consulting), and labor services (like HVAC, contracting, and building) use solution selling a lot. It also happens a lot when companies sell goods that can be changed in a lot of ways, like in B2B manufacturing and enterprise software.

There are times when even easy solutions need a lot of help. If a business is looking for a new accounting system, they will want to know about all of its features, workflows, and connections. They will also want the seller to help them figure out how it fits in with the way they do things now.

Pros of Solution Selling

Focusing on the customer

One of the best things about solution selling is that it focuses on the customer. When a customer first comes into the sales process, 71% of them expect to be treated in a personalized way.

Solution selling makes sure that their experience with a company sales worker is a continuation of the personalized buying experience, even though this happens before they talk to sales.

Based on values

There are a lot of B2B buyers who say their last purchase was “difficult” or “very difficult.” A big reason for this is that they don’t think the seller is offering the right product or solution.

The buyers also have lives. Value is vital in sales because people lose attention, trust, or both. They will also be less likely to want to risk a lot of money.

Solution selling makes sure that the value is always talked about first. By learning about what a buyer wants and making an answer just for them, sellers build trust and relationships that are worth more, which leads to more sales.

How to Stand Out from Competitors

A lot of businesses don’t understand that making their products stand out is only one part of the process. Most customers care just as much, if not more, about how personalized their business is and how much help they get from it.

Just because a product is “different” doesn’t mean that the seller is good at setting it up for the customer. The buyer must first agree to buy. Then, they can understand how valuable a one-of-a-kind item is.

Solution sellers make their products fit your needs and have better customer service than their competitors. This builds trust in a way that old-fashioned sales methods can’t match. In real life, the results show up in the number of sales—four out of five customers say they’re more likely to buy from a brand that gives them a personalized experience.

Higher effectiveness in sales

This is because a solution seller is better at both finding out what a client wants and giving them a solution that fits their needs. When salespeople do good research, they can make a custom offer that meets the needs of the customer.

One more thing that solution buyers look for in sales reps is technical knowledge. They need to be able to understand and explain complicated topics in simple terms. Being able to break down complicated goods makes it easier for prospects to get started with them and eventually become regular users. If they know about a product’s features and specs before they buy it, they’ll be more comfortable with it when they do.

Better turn rates, more extensive sales, and more loyal customers come from having more knowledge and being more efficient.

Less time between sales

Most business-to-business sales take between a few weeks and a few months to close. It’s normal for business sales reps to still work on the same deal after over a year.

Solution selling takes more time from the seller, but it cuts down on complicated sales cycles by getting rid of a lot of the guessing and back-and-forth. Since solution sellers take the time to learn about what their clients need, they can make a solution that fits those wants right away. And because they focus on value, they don’t need as many talks and presentations to move deals along.

Problems with Solution Selling

Solution selling is a great way to build relationships and get the most out of every sales contact, but it’s not the only way to get more sales. It slows work and adds extra value to a process that companies with more straightforward goods or shorter sales cycles don’t need.

It takes a lot of time.

Getting time is one of the most complex parts of selling solutions. Solution selling helps important clients see that a package has everything they need. The wants of most customers are pretty basic.

One example is a SaaS company that has more than one price level. Their business sales reps likely spend hours with each client. They’re taking them to lunch, setting up demos, and having board members and company executives talk about the features of their product.

But those business customers need custom software, access to APIs, and help that is only for them. Most of their prospects can sign up for the middle level, add it to their existing apps, and go about their day.

It’s important to know what to do in different situations and to have more than one way to make a sale. These days, solution selling is a part of every sales plan. But sales teams need to know when to make their technique the same for everyone.

Intensive on resources

Salespeople cost a lot (their time does). A deal that takes a long time to close is also wrong. A sales worker must spend an hour on every extra sales meeting.

Already, salespeople only sell things for about 30% of the day. There isn’t much value if they aren’t spending much of that on building their market and growing the business.

Solution selling takes more than just time. To build a personalized buying experience, you need extra tools like research, buyer-enablement content, and software. It’s up to businesses to decide if the extra resources will be worth it compared to standardizing how they do things.

Level of difficulty

The sales process can get more complicated when you sell solutions. It takes a lot of study, technical know-how, and content to help buyers, which adds another step to the customer journey.

It also depends a lot on how well the seller can help. They might not close as many deals if they know little about their company’s product or can’t explain complicated ideas clearly.

Costs More

It may cost more to sell a solution than to sell something else. To get the most out of their resources, companies need to spend money on training, technology, and extra resources.

Another thing to think about is ramp time. When there’s more to learn, getting new employees up to speed on how the company makes sales takes longer. This problem will still exist for new hires from outside the company who join the business team, even if solution selling only allows more significant accounts.

A Lot of Customization

A lot of businesses can stay in business without providing customizable solutions. It’s sometimes easier to meet the basic needs of a lot of customers at once than to make solutions that fit the needs of each unique buyer.

Also, it’s important to remember that the product or service determines how hard it is to customize a solution. Some businesses can make custom solutions with much more freedom, while others are limited by the products they sell.

How Hard It Is to Scale

With solution selling, the only way to grow is to pay more for more salespeople. Because of the personalized service and hands-on attitude, it’s hard to pass the baton from one rep to another.

Solution selling is hard to implement, meaning businesses that use it will have a more challenging time when they want to grow. It already takes a lot of time to launch new goods, sell to different types of buyers, and go global. People who work in sales and find solutions have much more growth pains.

The Sales Team’s Resistance

Likely, a sales team won’t want to switch to a different method if they’re already doing well without solution selling. It needs more training, time spent on each sale, and more money on technology.

Because of this, solution selling should only be used when there is a clear need for it, like when a new product that can be customized is released. If not, businesses could get stuck in an extended change process with no clear way to move forward.

The Process of Selling Solutions

Solution selling works in different situations, just like any other sales method. Each group will change it in their way. It’s part of a plan to set yourself apart.

Find Out What Hurts Your Customers

A seller needs to know why they’re talking to a buyer before they do anything else.

Here are some examples of pain points:

• Bad experience for the customer
• Methods that don’t work well
• Service prices are too high
• Low rates of sales
• Systems are prone to mistakes

A solution seller is always on the lookout for ways to help a customer with a unique solution. The trouble spots for the customer are their North Star.

Note: You shouldn’t try to sell something at the “pain points” stage. Sales reps should write down these problems, say a few words about them, and think of a way to solve them while they learn more about the customer’s situation.

Look for Obstacles

Any problem that might stop a customer from getting something is called a roadblock.

Some examples are

• Support from higher-ups
• A budget review is coming up soon
• Doubts from other team members
• Trouble putting a new idea or answer into action or making a change

To find problems, you have to ask the possible customer what they are. Everyone who sells something should ask their customers what would keep them from buying it, even if the product were a good fit. Also, they need to list everyone who has a stake in the sale (in B2B sales, there are often up to 10 decision-makers).

Get to know the customer

Prospects aren’t worth the extra time and work that solution selling takes until they are a sales-qualified lead (SQL).

Some things that are needed to qualify a customer are:

• Budget and adaptability: Customers will never buy something if they can’t pay the price. No matter how well it fits,
• Authority: Can the prospect make a choice, or do they need someone else to sign off? Make sure there is a decision-maker on the other end of the line before you start a solution-focused sale.
• Business use case: How would your product help the customer? Does it work? They are likely to leave before the ideal customer if they only use a few features.

Date of decision: Companies that haven’t made up their minds yet might benefit from a quick demo and follow-up with leads, but they aren’t the best options for a hands-on approach.

Qualification is about keeping the customer’s and the seller’s time safe. Giving value only when it’s a fair trade-off, like time for money, is what it means to lead with value.

Teaching about the answer

The sales rep can break everything down once the lead is qualified and the person making the choice is on the line. These people can now tell them about the goods and how they would help them more than anything else.

An often-first step in this stage is a sales show. With the information gathered from past talks, they can plan and make a presentation focusing on the features that meet the customer’s needs.

The next step is to help the customer understand why a particular solution will work for them and how it will connect to other services, tools, or processes they already have. For this to work, sellers need to know a lot about the goods and how the customer runs their business.

Dealing with Objections

Even if the customer liked the sales demo, objections are their way of telling the seller they are still not sure. They’re normal; every possible buyer will have them.

Some common arguments are:

• “The price is too high.”
• “Those are too many features for us.”
• “The system we have now works fine.”
• “Right now, we’re not ready to decide.”
• “We don’t see the point in this.”

Not all of the time are they even real concerns. They’re just hiding that the customer doesn’t want to make a choice.

After carefully listening, a seller should try to reframe their answer regarding what the customer is having trouble with, what they want to achieve, or how much money they have to spend. It helps a lot to ask open-ended questions.

For instance, a prospect who says they “don’t need that many features” might still be interested. It’s possible that the seller didn’t understand their wants and gave a lousy demo because of it.

If you come back with something as easy as “What do you need?” or “What did you hope to see more of in this presentation?”the salesperson and the customer can agree on something.

Make the Point Clear

For the person selling the solution, objections are just chances to meet the wants of the customer better. They can drive home the answer if they deal with them well and the product fits well.

The following events are part of this:

• Telling the customer what to expect, such as delivery times and methods
• Comparing the answer to other possible answers

Putting forward a reason why the item is worth the cost (ROI)

• Offering more information for buyers to look over before making a choice
• Coming up with any payment plans and financing deals that make it easy for customers to commit
• Reminding the customer of problems they had before and how the product fixes them

Finish the Deal

A deal will move to Closed Won or Closed Lost at some point. It will be a contract, a billing deal, and work with the customer to meet their needs if it goes through.

Getting started and implementing

The sales process isn’t always over when the deal is closed. Customers still need to pay, learn how to use the product, and roll it out to everyone in their company.

How much help a company gives with implementation and getting new customers up to speed will depend on how complicated the answer is. It usually includes a mix of digital onboarding programs, hands-on training, and goals for user usage. Sometimes, a company will send its developers to build IT systems.

Support All the Time

One of the most essential parts of any sales process is the help after the sale. That’s how the company keeps its customers.

Offering ongoing help is a chance to make connections that last and an opportunity to upsell and cross-sell. Fast reaction times and reasonable solutions to customer problems are also ways for businesses to keep customers from leaving.

The best ways to sell solutions successfully

Solution selling is hard to implement, especially if the sales team hasn’t done it before.

In short, here are some things you should always do:

• Use a lead scoring method to focus on selling solutions to prospects who are very valuable.
• Talk to your customers, not to them.
• To get your prospect to talk, ask them easy, open-ended questions.

When you talk to prospects and afterward, send them information that gives them real valu,.

• Get rid of the pitch. Make the buyer take action by clarifying what they need from your goods.
• Don’t use too many rules in your sales pitch. Listen to what they have to say.

Tools for Selling Solutions More Efficiently

Software is a big part of solution selling. It’s almost impossible for sellers to keep track of all the information and notes they make about each customer. The software keeps everything in the cloud and simplifies essential steps in the sales cycle.

CRM stands for customer relationship management.

In this environment, CRM software is the most important thing. One place where customer data and sales flow data are kept is in this tool. It also helps sellers keep track of past sales conversations, organize their tasks, set reminders, divide customers into groups, visually move them through the sales pipeline, and report on success data.

Tool for Working Together

Collaboration tools make it easy for sales reps to share papers or presentation slides. Team members can also be given tasks and have their work tracked.

Planning for business resources (ERP)

ERP systems are often used by bigger businesses to make their tasksccessible, like accounting or managing their , easierinventory.

Connecting ERP to CRM and teamwork tools makes it easy for sellers to do their work. They can get to all of their company’s product information without switching between programs all the time.

Set up, price, and quote (CPQ)

That’s because CPQ software makes it easy for sellers to make unique products for their customers right before them. CPQ automatically knows all the price rules and product parameters, so you don’t have to assemble a product configuration and quote a prospect for it by hand.

Visual drag-and-drop in CPQ makes it easy for sales reps to quickly develop custom solutions, sometimes while the client is still on the call.